In the past, overhead tables in operating rooms have been draped preparatory to positioning over a patient by unfolding a drape to cover three edges of the table and maintaining at least one stack of folded panels of the drape in a position to cover the fourth edge of the table. The table is then positioned over the patient and the fourth stack of panels pulled down onto the patient. Such a draping procedure is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,221 issued on Dec. 21, 1976 to Collins which uses two drapes to cover the table. A short set up drape is first unfolded over the reference edge of the table, which is the edge placed next to the operative site. The table drape is then unfolded over the set up drape covering the three edges of the table other than the reference edge. The reference edge of the table, covered by the set up drape, is not covered by the table drape until after the table is positioned over the patient. A stack of folded table drape panels positioned adjacent to the reference edge is then pulled over the reference edge and down onto the patient.
Another drape for surgical tables is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,941 issued to Knopick et al. on Aug. 21, 1979. A rectangular drape is folded inwardly from each of two opposed edges to form a drape shortened in one dimension; the shortened drape subsequently is shortened in a perpendicular direction by folding inwardly from each of the remaining opposed edges, creating four stacks of panels. A folded sheet of material is adhesively attached to the drape near one edge. The table can be covered by unfolding the four stacks of panels while retaining the attached sheet in position until needed. The sheet, positioned inside the folded drape, is draped down over the reference edge of the table extending below the adjacent edge of the drape after the remainder of the drape has been unfolded.
It is an object of this invention to provide an overhead table drape which can be economically produced and easily used. It is still another object of this invention to provide an overhead table drape which is a single sheet of material and which requires that only one sheet of material be used to drape the table and to protect the reference edge of that table while the drape is being unfolded and the table is being positioned over the patient.